Tuesday, September 11 began as a beautiful day. The humidity had lessened and the air was cool and crisp. That day began as any other does in our Middle School—only there was an added excitement in the air due to the fact that the MNK Mixer (Meet the New Kid Mixer) was to take place this morning. Our homeroom had made a video introducing all of the new fifth graders to the rest of the school. We had chosen the theme of "The Weakest Link," and were struggling to dub the edited copy onto an acceptable format for view at the assembly. Finally, deciding that time was running down, we opted to present our class's video as a "bloopers" edition—we thought we'd at least get a laugh out of everyone—and so we gave up and headed over to the church, where the presentations were being made. Once there, a friend caught me and told me of the surreal events of the morning, of having watched a plane hit the second tower of the World Trade Center on live television. It seemed unfathomable to me; for many, New York City is a place to visit, a national museum of lights, plays, centers, operas—for those of us who live here, this city is our backyard. I remember walking away from the conversation with two thoughts, which remain with me still today: One, pray for the President right away; and two, even amidst, no, in fact, despite all of this chaos, God is in control!
Our principal, Mrs. Nieuwenhuis, shared the news with our children at the end of our assembly—the unthinkable, impossible, even unimaginable had occurred. It was difficult to watch the facial expressions of children who have never known disaster, war, or hostility of this fashion. They were not sure how to react; fortunately, our principal did. She asked that we pray together immediately. Mrs. Tyvoll, the 7th and 8th grade Bible teacher, who had also coordinated our mixer event, suggested to the students that they consider kneeling on their knees before the Lord. What an amazing sight to see almost 300 students, teachers and visiting parents kneel before the Lord, our Protector! After Mrs. Nieuwenhuis and Mrs. Tyvoll led in prayer, students joined in with their sentence prayers as the entire assembly stormed the throne of Grace in prayer for courage and help for our neighbors and country. Students, not knowing what else to do, cried out to our God ("even the children shall lead us").
After this season of prayer, students were dismissed to homeroom where teachers could interact with them in a smaller group. It was soon announced that the school day would continue as planned, in order to maintain as normal of a routine as possible. In class, in one way or another, the teachers all began to face questions, anxieties and fears the students were expressing, either verbally or as emotions etched on their faces.
I teach Bible and Reading on alternate days and Spanish every afternoon. That Tuesday, I was scheduled to teach Bible—I remember later wondering how teachers in the public school could possibly handle a day like today and the questions that the children must have had—if we can't go to God in times like these, then where do we turn? As my students came into my room, I could sense from their faces that they were beginning to wonder and worry about family, friends, parents and coaches. That day and the next school day that followed (school was not in session the Wednesday immediately following the attack) was spent talking, venting, sharing and praying. I assured the students that God is STILL in control and that the government He had placed over us had safety measures in place to provide extra security for our nation. Many students shared how their neighborhood or town was holding candle vigils and church meetings. It was and remains a wonderful thing to see the nation join together like this, but unless you have seen it, it is impossible to express the awesomeness of children uniting in prayer and Christian compassion with one another as they faced the loss of neighbors, relatives and friends.
One of the first assignments I asked the students to do was to write in their Bible Journals. They could write down anything they wanted to, from questions to sad information, from poems to songs, from heartaches to fears. After this time of introspection, I called on students who wanted to share what they had written. One student, Stephanie Jacobs, wrote the following:
"In these days
of horror and might,
We stand tall and try not to fight.
Because someone needed help,
They came in and started to yelp.
We pray to God in this day
That all of this will go away!
Also, we still pray every day
That they will know God in every way!
Help the person who started this to confess,
So this will hurt less and less.
Help this person to know
That Jesus is the way to go!"
Stephanie shared that she was overwhelmed with the horrid acts, but knew that Jesus could make it better. She wrote the poem, she says, because that is how she best expresses her feelings and because she loves to write about God.
Another student shared similar thoughts, but at the end of his journal reading, he looked up to the class, a tremor in his voice, and said, "I'm scared." I quickly polled the class by asking, "How many of you are scared?" Almost every hand timidly went up. I asked them to turn to II Timothy 1:7, which says, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity ("fear"), but a spirit of power, of love, and self-discipline (a "sound mind" in some translations)."
I reassured the students that it is okay to be scared. "Scared" is a normal and a natural human feeling when we feel threatened or alone. In I Samuel, we learn that Saul hid from the people of Israel when he was first chosen as king because he was afraid. Even Christ felt forsaken by God as he hung on the cross. However, what we do with that scared feeling is vital: it is important that we not be overcome with fear and worry (the plan of both our spiritual and physical "enemy"), but rather that we cry out to God, as Christ did, and go to the Lord in prayer (Psalm 46:1-3; Matthew 6:25-34).
With the students a little more at ease, we opened to Psalm 64, and read what David once felt in a time of need and how he, too, took refuge in the Lord. I shared with them a story that a friend of mine, who is a teacher at Mustard Seed School, sent to me about her class's perspective on the attacks (Mustard Seed is located in Hoboken, a river's length away from the WTC). During the attack, a child in her class asked if they could read Psalm 64 and pray together throughout the chapter. His discernment to choose this passage could only have been the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As the class looked across the river at burning buildings and crashing planes, he read,
"Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint; protect me from the threat of the enemy. Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked...they shoot from ambush at the innocent man, they shoot at him suddenly, without fear. They encourage each other in evil plans...surely the mind and heart of man are cunning...but...All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what He has done. Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in Him; let all the upright in heart praise Him."
We continue to talk with our students and to allow them a time to express their feelings and concerns and to assure them that these feelings are okay. We have had Pastor Kevin Jonas, a minister in our town and father of two of our Middle School students, speak to us and unite us in prayer once again as an entire student body. He reminded us that, although we don't know what the future holds, we know who holds the future. We also participated in the national, "See You at the Pole," day of prayer, where we once again lifted up our national leaders, our volunteers, our neighbors and our acquaintances that were still heavy on our hearts. Healing has been slow, but God has been good.
We raised our flag high again today, as a sign that we will continue to go on as a nation, that we cannot and will not stop our lives out of fear, and that we are STILL one nation, UNDER GOD, indivisible, with liberty and JUSTICE for all. We continually draw our worries, fears, tensions and sorrows back to the scripture and to the Lord in prayer.
Isn't God good? He doesn't promise that, as Christians, we will not go through the fire—in fact, He promises just the opposite—but that we will come out shining like gold, and, that He is with us, "even to the end of the age." Amen and Amen.
Author's Note: Although we are rejoicing that no parent or spouse of any Middle School student or teacher was harmed, we offer our sympathies to extended family members and friends who were affected. We particularly feel Christian compassion and love for the Van Hine Family, whose children attend Eastern Christian High School. Mr. Van Hine was a fireman for the city of New York and is among the missing heroes of that day.
Valeri Jean Shafer
'90
Eastern Christian Middle School
Wyckoff Campus
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